


fall through the cracks of me

by weasleyspotter



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Birthday fic for Alessandra, F/M, Started fluffy and ended up some where angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-07
Updated: 2014-05-07
Packaged: 2018-01-23 22:32:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1581782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weasleyspotter/pseuds/weasleyspotter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>or four times Grant caught Jemma and one time she caught him. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	fall through the cracks of me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alessandralee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandralee/gifts).



> Happy birthday Alessandra! This is for you!

  
i.

The first time she falls out of the plane to save them all.

And he runs after her and tosses himself out of the plane after her because he doesn't really know how to process someone giving up their life for him.

When Jemma thanks him later on, thanking him for coming after her with the antidote. She looks at him with bright eyes, adrenaline coursing through them both.

He doesn't tell her that he didn't even know there was an antidote until he was almost out of the plane.

ii.

The second time is an accident more than anything.

A slip of the foot.

She had been standing on the edge of the ledge examining a piece of goo that he was ninety percent sure was alive. She had taken a step forward and missed the pavement but nothing more than a centimeter. His heart skips as a beat out as she lets out a surprised yelp and begins to pitch forward.

He didn’t even know he could move that fast until she was in his arms, breathless.

“Agent Ward,” she exhales out a bit surprised, as if she had forgotten he was even there. She straightens suddenly and pulls out of his arms. “Thanks,” she looks away, back at the goo.

“I did promise I’d always catch you if you fell,” he smiles at her softly, wondering when he started keeping promises.

iii.

The third time is more of a drunken tumble.

When Skye’s iPod starts blaring Selena Gomez at midnight, he knows that it’s time to cut them off.

“Hey,” Skye crows out, when he grabs the bottle of vodka off the center of the table. “I was drinking that!”

Fitz is snoring in the corner and shoots awake and Skye’s shrill indignation. “What’s going on?” He slurs out, taking in the scene with blurry eyes.

“Ward is being a party pooper,” Skye whines. “I’m not even drunk. I’m not drunk, right Fitz?”

Fitz barely remains awake throughout her explanation. Skye pays him no attention.

“Look Mr. Panties in a Twist, I am so not drunk, and I can prove it.” She pushes a finger into his chest for emphasis. “And I would totally prove it, if the room wasn’t spinning right now.” She stumbles away from him slightly, clutching her head.

He starts forward after her, with an eye roll.

“No, no,” she waves him, “I’m good. Where was I?” She looks at him confused, and then brightens. “Right, I’m dizzy, but not drunk, and Jemma will prove it.”

“What?” Jemma sits up suddenly. She had been partially slumped forward onto the lab table, doing her best to block out what was happening around her. Despite the fact that the festivities had been all for her, they were supposed to be celebrating her award.

“You drank as much as me,” Skye explains slowly, “if you can prove that you’re sober, then so am I.”

“But I’m,” Jemma begins.

“You need to walk on that table,” Skye cuts her off, pointing to the lab table.

“Skye,” Jemma begins tiredly.

“Come on Jemma, you can’t let Ward win,” she pleads with the scientist, almost unaware of Ward standing right beside her. “He’s totally going to hold it against me for a long time,” she leans into the other woman, but fails to whisper.

Jemma sighs heavily, and for a moment he doesn’t think she’s going to do it. But she quickly heaves herself up onto the steel table top. Skye starts cheering as Jemma takes a few steady steps forward. He takes a few steps forward so that he’s standing right beside her. And it works out because as she goes to take her fifth step, she stumbles forward, losing her footing, and tumbles right into his open arms.

He’s getting a lot better at catching her. And she doesn’t even look surprised this time.

Staring into Jemma’s brown eyes, he swallows heavily. “Skye, bed now.” He doesn’t look away from Jemma as he sets her down on the floor, and watches her walk out after a grumbling Skye and a stumbling Fitz.

She pauses right outside of the door. “Thanks for catching me,” she smiles, “Again.”

iv.

The fourth time is on purpose and it scares him more than the others.

She’s wearing a black dress, and he hates himself just a little bit because he shouldn’t think she looks beautiful in it. Her face is the perfect mask of composure, but her eyes are blank, and it kills him a little bit.

She goes missing after all the speeches, and Skye comes up to him frantically because she can’t just go missing. They search for her for hours, and he finally finds her up in a tree in her backyard.

When she sees him, her eyes filled with unshed tears, she breathes out, just loud enough for him to hear, “Catch me,” and she tosses herself out of the tree towards him.

His heart stops for a moment as she tumbles through the air towards his arms. He holds his arms out blindly, trusting himself to catch her. She falls into his arms with a woosh, and that’s it.

She curls into his chest and starts to sob.

“Jemma,” he soothes, smoothing down her hair.

He wants to yell, he wants to scream at her for falling, again. He wants to be furious with her for trusting him so blindly because if he hadn’t caught her, she would be gone, just like her parents. But most of all he wants to tell her that she looks beautiful, like a fallen angel and that’s the worst part of him.

So he stays silent instead.

v.

The first and last time, Garrett is the clairvoyant and he doesn’t know what to do.

Part of him is furious with himself because he allowed this to happen. Skye is with the Clairvoyant, and Jemma looks a bit lost because it was her who had let him into see Skye. But he knows that it was his fault. It had been him who told Coulson that Garrett was trustworthy. It had been his confidence that let Skye get kidnapped.

So when they find her location through a weak tracking signal in a warehouse in Dubai, he charges in headfirst with no regard for the word safety.

He doesn’t even feel anything as the bullets whiz by.

He doesn’t feel anything until afterwards when Skye looks at him with grateful then horrified eyes because “Ward, you’ve been shot.”

He looks down slowly at his stomach, and the bloodstain that is slowly growing, and pitches forward.

Two petite arms wrap around his chest and hold him loosely upright. “Skye, help me with him,” a British voice says in his arm.

They slowly drop him to the ground and roll him onto his back. He sees her first, and he thinks (again) that she looks beautiful, even though he isn’t supposed to because he’s dying. The sun frames her face, her long brown hair cascades down her shoulders, and he thinks that maybe he got it all wrong, she wasn’t a fallen angel, tossed from the gates of heaven, but an angel still held in the highest regards of those around her, even if she’s stumbled a bit.

“Grant,” her voice sounds far away, as if she was miles away from him. “Stay with me.”

He wants to tell her that he kept his promise, he caught her. He just never thought she would catch him in return. He never thought he would fall either.

“It’s okay,” he sighs out, closing his eyes, “you caught me.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this hastily at midnight, so I take full credit for the spelling and grammar errors. Comment and Kudos if you liked it!


End file.
